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James R. Lewis and Inga Tøllefsen (eds)

The first edition of The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements appeared in early 2004. At the time, it was a much-needed overview of a rapidly-expanding area of study; it received ...
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The first edition of The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements appeared in early 2004. At the time, it was a much-needed overview of a rapidly-expanding area of study; it received recognition in the form of a Choice book award. The second edition brings this task up to date. In addition to updating most of the original topics, the new edition takes in more topics by expanding the volume from 22 to 32 chapters, and enlarges the scope of the book by doubling the number of contributors from outside of North America. Following an introductory section devoted to social-scientific approaches to New Religious Movements (NRMs), the second section focuses on what has been uppermost in the minds of the general public, namely the controversies that have surrounded these groups. The third section examines certain themes in the study of NRMs, such as the status of children and women in such movements. The fourth section presents religious studies approaches by looking at NRM mythologies, rituals and the like. The final section covers the subfields that have grown out of NRM studies and become specializations in their own right, from the study of modern Paganism to the study of the New Age Movement. Finally, the present volume has a thematic focus; readers interested in specific NRMs are advised to consult the second edition of James R. Lewis and Jesper Aa. Petersen’s edited volume, Controversial New Religions (Oxford University Press 2014).

Terryl L. Givens and Philip L. Barlow (eds)

Mormon Studies is one of the fastest-growing subfields in religious studies. For this handbook, Philip Barlow and Terryl Givens, two leading scholars of Mormonism, have brought together ...
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Mormon Studies is one of the fastest-growing subfields in religious studies. For this handbook, Philip Barlow and Terryl Givens, two leading scholars of Mormonism, have brought together other major writers in the field to construct a collection of chapters that offers a comprehensive overview of scholarship on Mormons. The book begins with a section on Mormon history, perhaps the best-developed area of Mormon studies. Part II examines revelation and scripture , where the texts arising from Joseph Smith’s original vision intersect and overlap with canonical Christian writings. Mormon priesthood, the church’s missionary role, and its formal and informal religious practices are discussed in Part III. The chapters in Part IV concern Mormon thought, its philosophical and theological beliefs about morality, soteriology, and theodicy. Parts V and VI focus, respectively, on Mormon society—its internal composition and relationships—and its creative culture. Parts VII and VIII place Mormonism in a world context: the expansion abroad from its American roots, and its relationship with competing conceptions of modernity and politics.

Jane I. Smith and Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad (eds)

This Handbook offers an up-to-the-minute analysis of Islam in America by 30 of the best scholars in the field. It covers the initial growth of Islam in the US from the earliest arrivals ...
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This Handbook offers an up-to-the-minute analysis of Islam in America by 30 of the best scholars in the field. It covers the initial growth of Islam in the US from the earliest arrivals through the beginnings of African American Islam, as well as the waves of pre- and post-WWII immigrants when Muslims had little sense of religious identity in relation to their American compatriots. Providing basic information about Sunni, Shi‘ite, sectarian and Sufi movements in America, the volume considers the role of ethnic and racial identity in religious formation. Special attention is given to the role and status of women, marriage, and family. The rise of religious and educational institutions, leadership and youth movements, along with the expansion of Islam through outreach in prisons and through volunteerism, have served to give cohesion and a growing sense of what it means to be part of American Islam. The final section of the book deals with the component pieces of contemporary Islam in America such as politics and government, intellectual life and interfaith endeavors. The process of integration and assimilation that has been intensified as a response to 9/11 has brought about a creative response in which Muslims are eager to be Muslim and American at the same time. The volume concludes with elements of Muslim culture that are part of the current creative response to the reality of American Islam, including Islamic dress and fashion, art and architecture, film and filmmaking, health and medicine, politics, and Muslim-Christian relations. Bracketing these articles on integration and assimilation are thorough investigations of both the effects of the war on terror and the continuing Islamophobia that it has engendered, and of the relationship of American Islam to international Islam.

Carolyn J. Sharp (ed.)

This volume explores historical, literary, and ideological dimensions of the books of the Latter Prophets of the Hebrew Bible—Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Book of the Twelve—along ...
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This volume explores historical, literary, and ideological dimensions of the books of the Latter Prophets of the Hebrew Bible—Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Book of the Twelve—along with Daniel. The prophetic books comprise oracles, narratives, and vision reports from ancient Israel and Judah spanning several centuries. Analysis of these texts sheds light on the cultural norms, theological convictions, and political disputes of Israelite and Judean communities in the shadow of the empires of ancient Egypt, Babylonia, and Persia. This Handbook features discussion of ancient Near Eastern social and cultic contexts; exploration of focused topics such as divination and other ritual practices of intermediation; textual criticism of the prophetic books, constructions of the persona of the prophet, and the problem of violence in prophetic rhetoric; historical and literary analysis of key prophetic texts; issues in reception history, from early reinterpretation of prophetic texts at Qumran and readings in rabbinic midrash to medieval ecclesial interpretations and modern Christian homiletical appropriations; and feminist, womanist, materialist, postcolonial, and queer readings of prophetic texts in conversation with contemporary theorists.

This handbook is currently in development, with individual articles publishing online in advance of print publication. At this time, we cannot add information about ...
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This handbook is currently in development, with individual articles publishing online in advance of print publication. At this time, we cannot add information about unpublished articles in this handbook, however the table of contents will continue to grow as additional articles pass through the review process and are added to the site. Please note that the online publication date for this handbook is the date that the first article in the title was published online. For more information, please read the site FAQs.

Ulrich L. Lehner, Richard A. Muller, and A. G. Roeber (eds)

This Handbook offers a comprehensive and reliable introduction to Christian theological literature originating in Western Europe, from roughly the end of the French Wars of Religion (1598) ...
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This Handbook offers a comprehensive and reliable introduction to Christian theological literature originating in Western Europe, from roughly the end of the French Wars of Religion (1598) to the Congress of Vienna (1815). Approaching from various angles theology from Bossuet to Jonathan Edwards, the volume will review the major forms of early modern theology (scholastic, including Cartesian scholasticism; Enlightenment; early Romanticism, etc.); sketch the teachings, with main developments, on major theological topics; introduce the principal practitioners of each kind of theology and delineate their particular theological contributions and emphases; and depict the engagement by early modern theologians with various other philosophical, social, and religious currents.

Sabine Schmidtke (ed.)

The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Theology provides a comprehensive and authoritative survey of the current state of the field. It provides a variegated picture of the state of ...
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The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Theology provides a comprehensive and authoritative survey of the current state of the field. It provides a variegated picture of the state of the art and at the same time suggests new directions for future research. Part One covers the various strands of Islamic theology during the formative and early middle periods, rational as well as scripturalist. To demonstrate the continuous interaction among the various theological strands and its repercussions (during the formative and early middle period and beyond), Part Two offers a number of case studies. These focus on specific theological issues that have developed through the dilemmatic and often polemical interactions between the different theological schools and thinkers. Part Three covers Islamic theology during the later middle and early modern periods. One of the characteristics of this period is the growing amalgamation of theology with philosophy (Peripatetic and Illuminationist) and mysticism. Part Four addresses the impact of political and social developments on theology through a number of case studies: the famous miḥna instituted by al-Maʾmūn (r. 189/813-218/833) as well as the miḥna to which Ibn ʾAqīl (d. 769/1367) was subjected; the religious policy of the Almohads; as well as the shifting interpretations throughout history (particularly during Mamluk and Ottoman times) of the relation between Ashʿarism and Māturidism that were often motivated by political motives. Part Five considers Islamic theological thought from the end of the early modern and during the modern period.

Michael Jerryson (ed.)

Over the last two hundred years, Buddhists have witnessed incredible transformations, and often they have participated in making them. Throughout history, religious systems have been ...
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Over the last two hundred years, Buddhists have witnessed incredible transformations, and often they have participated in making them. Throughout history, religious systems have been intimately connected to economics, politics, and societies. These relationships were profoundly affected in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries with the loss of monarchies and the advents of print technology, capitalism, socialism, and the nation-state. Such transformations had enormous impacts on Buddhism. The changes manifested both within Buddhist populated countries and beyond through Buddhist transnational organizations and Buddhist diasporas. The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Buddhism tracks these changes to Buddhists, their rituals, and beliefs in the colonial and postcolonial world. Leading scholars in Buddhism have authored 41 chapters, divided into two parts. Part I contains chapters on the historical transformation of Buddhist traditions around the world and their interactions with globalization. Each chapter provides a background for the Buddhist tradition and then the ways in which it has changed with modernity. These chapters range from the more familiar traditions, such as Tibetan Buddhism, to the less familiar, such as Buddhism in Latin America and Africa. Part II contains chapters devoted to particular themes and their interactions with Buddhism, such as Buddhist approaches to gender, sexual orientation, and race. These chapters also examine the impacts of subjects such as technology, music, and architecture on Buddhism, as well as changes to the academic study of Buddhism itself.

Mark Chapman, Sathianathan Clarke, and Martyn Percy (eds)

The 44 essays in this volume embrace a wide range of academic disciplines: theological; historical; demography and geography; and different aspects of culture and ethics. They are united ...
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The 44 essays in this volume embrace a wide range of academic disciplines: theological; historical; demography and geography; and different aspects of culture and ethics. They are united in their discussion of what is effectively a new inter-disciplinary subject which we have termed 'Anglican Studies'. At the core of this volume is the phenomenon of Anglicanism as this is expressed in different places and in a variety of ways across the world. This Handbook covers a far broader set of topics from a wider range of perspectives than has been hitherto attempted in Anglican Studies. At the same time, it doesn't impose a particular theological or historical agenda. The contributions are drawn from across the spectrum of theological views and opinions. It shows that the unsettled nature of the polity is part of its own rich history; and many will see this as a somewhat lustrous tradition. In its comprehensive coverage, this volume is a valuable contribution to Anglican Studies and helps formulate a discipline that might perhaps promote dialogue and discussion across the Anglican world.

R. Barry Matlock (ed.)

This handbook is currently in development, with individual articles publishing online in advance of print publication. At this time, we cannot add information about ...
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This handbook is currently in development, with individual articles publishing online in advance of print publication. At this time, we cannot add information about unpublished articles in this handbook, however the table of contents will continue to grow as additional articles pass through the review process and are added to the site. Please note that the online publication date for this handbook is the date that the first article in the title was published online. For more information, please read the site FAQs.

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